By Artem Korsakov ·
In short: You do not need a technical specification to order a website. It is enough to describe the situation that prompted the project, the customer and what they do on the site, the materials you already have, your time and budget constraints, any required connections to other systems and how you will know the site is ready. An example of such a description is below.
A website development brief helps explain what the company sells, to whom and what action it expects from the visitor. Technology names and the exact page structure can be decided after that. Business input is harder to delegate: only your team has it.
Describe the situation that prompted the project
The phrase “we need a modern website” explains almost nothing. Write what is happening now: you are launching a new line of business, updating your offer, replacing an outdated catalog or moving enquiries out of message threads. Say what is getting in the way of work and why the question has come up now.
You do not have to promise a numerical increase in sales. If there is no baseline data, state the observable problem: visitors ask about specifications that are already in the documents, or managers manually put together the same selections. This is more useful than an arbitrary goal like “double the conversion rate”.
Describe the customer through their choice
Name the person who makes the decision and the person who will use the website. In B2B these can be different people: an engineer selects the equipment, a buyer requests terms, a manager approves the spending. Each of them needs different information.
Give examples of questions that actually come in through enquiries, if you have such records. Do not present assumed questions as research. For a new line of business, you can write which doubts you currently expect and what you want to test after launch.
Explain the visitor’s action. “Leave contact details” is not enough if a staff member then needs to find out the product, quantity, delivery city and desired timeline. It is better to describe in advance what information should reach the manager together with the enquiry.
Show your materials and working rules
List what is already ready:
- photos;
- texts;
- catalog and price list;
- documents;
- brand identity.
Say who can answer questions about the content and approve materials. Not having texts does not prevent the project from starting, but it affects the scope of work.
For a hypothetical equipment servicing company, the brief might read like this: “We work with organizations in one region. Our main services are described in a presentation. We need separate pages for three service lines and an enquiry form that includes the equipment model. We have photos; the texts need to be reworked. Enquiries are handled by a dispatcher.” This is already a basis for a concrete conversation. The article “Landing page or multi-page website” helps decide how many pages you will need.
If a service depends on conditions, describe them in plain words. For example, an urgent call-out is only possible during working hours and after confirmation by a specialist. Such rules affect the texts, the form and the visitor’s expectations.
Name your constraints and required connections
State the preferred timeline, a budget guideline and what should be kept from the current website. What makes up the budget is covered in the article on the cost of a business website. If you have existing pages, email and a domain, do not automatically assume they are part of the new development. Access is checked separately and handed over in a secure, agreed way.
Describe the required connection to an external system through an event. For example, after an enquiry, a request should appear for the responsible manager. The name of the CRM is useful, but on its own it does not reveal the fields, assignment rules or what happens on error.
Agree on how you will know it is ready
At the end of the brief, describe the check:
- A visitor finds the service on a phone.
- They submit an enquiry.
- A staff member receives all the agreed information.
- A staff member can change the text on their own.
Add who will accept the work on the company’s side.
After the first meeting, ask the contractor to send back a short summary of their understanding of the task, the assumptions and the open questions. This lets you spot discrepancies before design and development. A good brief serves as a shared foundation for both sides; it does not require technical expertise from the client.
To start working with trike_dev, you can choose a similar solution in the catalog, for example a service landing page, and describe your situation using these points. Someone else’s website is useful as an illustration of individual solutions, but it will not replace an explanation of your task.
Частые вопросы ### Can we get an estimate without a technical specification?
Yes, a preliminary one. To agree on a specific result, you will need to clarify the pages, features and responsibilities of each side. But this can be done together with the contractor, starting from a clear description of the task.
What if the budget is not yet known?
Ask for two scope options: an essential launch and an extension. Do not ask for three identical proposals with different totals. The options should differ in a clear result.